We hit the road relatively early on Friday because 1) we were anxious to see Scott and Gwen in Charleston and 2) can you believe it?...the weather was crappy and tornadoes threatening from Tennessee to Charleston - not a good thing! So we pretty much high-tailed it out of there.
The wonderful thing that occurred pretty much as soon as we hit mid-South Carolina was that...the weather was in the 80s! Fabulous weather here we come!!!
We love Charleston and typically when we go to Folly Beach (an great island about 15 minutes away - very low key), we got to Charleston - it's such a beautiful, sophisticated city with a ton of great restaurants, shops and scenery.
So we decided this year that even though we weren't going to Folly, we thought "Well why not have Scott and Gwen fly into Charleston, we can meet them and get our fix before going onto Beaufort."
Well it worked out perfectly. We arrived in Charleston around 3pm, no tornadoes, and Scott and Gwen landed around 3:30pm - we couldn't have timed it any better!
We checked into a Marriott Residence Inn, which was right on the water - perfect location and just across the way from downtown Charleston.
It was actually a perfect situation - a 2 bedroom + 2 bath suite with a huge balcony - perfect for hanging out until we went out that evening - so we fixed ourselves some Bloody Marys and listened to some tunes - a perfect Friday evening.
When we were headed out for the night the concierge let us know that the hotel had a shuttle that could take you into the city and drop us off right by the open market area where our favorite restaurant (Mercato) was - this was fantastic, because we figured, we could take the free shuttle in and back and not have to worry about driving and finding parking when we knew Friday night would be a parking nightmare.
So feeling pretty proud of ourselves for getting such a deal, we waited outside for the shuttle. And waited. And waited. And waited.
It didn't help that there was a huge party also waiting. It was getting pretty ridiculous and then, well the ridiculous happened. Out walks this group of 6 very large women dressed as Alice in Wonderland/baby dolls. We then immediately realized that they were not women, but very large men. So then we thought that they were headed to a costume party. But then after close inspection we then noticed that 1) they're legs were shaved and 2) the costumes looked awfully expensive for just a night out.
So then the four of us were going back and forth trying to figure out the scenario. The going theory was that they were in some sort of fetish group going out on the town with their girlfriends - who were dressed "normally." I really wanted to know the scoop despite the fact that I begged Larry and Scott to not ask them their story - so we never found out the scoop.
So we were still waiting after the huge crowd got into the shuttle (read van) and we were left waiting for the next shuttle with the Alice in Wonderland group.
I think they then finally called a cab because the shuttle was just not coming and then we finally gave up and called for a cab.
When our cabbie came it was a husband and wife team. The woman was the driver and was a non-stop talker. The thing that just cracked us up was that immediately upon us getting into the cab, she proceeds to tell us that Charleston was the murder capital of the US (which I'm thinking actually might one or two other cities). Now the funny thing was that the four of us have all lived in several of the US's largest cities, so we're not bumpkins. So we're all sitting there chuckling as this woman rattles on about Charleston's crime rate (which is a city and does have crime), then almost hits another car because she's talking too much, and then goes into a 10 minute conversation about Palmetto Bugs and how awful they are! I mean, come on, she's somewhat acting as a representative of the city and yet everything she said was negative - not exactly the best welcome if it was your first time in Charleston!
We then got dropped off by the open air market City Market on Market Street - right in the middle of everything. City Market has a ton of vendors selling local wares, such as the sea grass baskets from the Gullah people.
There were so many people walking around and it was wonderful to be able to pop in and out of the shops before and after dinner - Gwen and I actually went back into a hat store 5 times before both of us bought hats. I love hats. I buy them, and for some reason have a hard time actually wearing them.
But this time, I swear I will - the one I bought makes me think I should be walking through Tuscany or something.
Our reservation for Mercato - one of the best restaurants in Charleston (www.mercatocharleston.com) was at 7:30pm so we had some time to kill. We ended up waiting in the bar because we to be in the hub-bub of everything.
So we're waiting and chatting and we were all starved. We were eyeing this one booth in particular in front of us and pretty much staring the people down because they had to have been finished with their meals...couldn't they see that we were starving???
And as we were waiting, we're talking about Jimmy Buffet - he always seems to come up in our conversations on vacation and Larry and Scott love him - and we're still chatting away.
Well...finally we were seated in the booth we were staring at and we're happy as clams - got the wine, bread, meals were ordered - and this woman breezes by and stops at our booth and announces that the booth that we were sitting in only moments before actually had Jimmy Buffet in it!
We were completely floored because 1) we all like Jimmy Buffet and know what he looks like and 2) we were staring at his table for about 45 minutes - how could we not know it was him???
Looking back I actually think I was looking at him thinking that he looks so from Charleston because he had a relaxed long sleeved polo and was tan etc. - pretty much like all the men we saw that night - they all looked like Jimmy Buffet!
Apparently he loves the restaurant and everyone is low key when he's there, which I think is nice because he deserves to hang out without people flipping out if they saw him. Unfortunately, I confess, I would probably not be able to keep my cool...
Charleston & Missing Jimmy Buffet By This Much - April 10th
Halfway Point: Knoxville - April 9th
Several of our trips have led us through Knoxville and although it has been a "stopover" night for us, the term truly doesn't serve Knoxville justly - it really is a great little gem of a city.
We arrived at our hotel around 4:30pm, checked in, and took a much needed nap. After the refresher we headed downtown.
Our hotel was actually on the outskirts of Knoxville and we could have easily just hopped back on the highway to go downtown, but Larry and I always like to take the back roads in - you never know what you'll discover. Knoxville has some wonderful rolling hills and all the vegetation seemed so plush. And of course, house-obsessed that I am, I was focusing on all the cute and normal-sized houses along the way - maybe, hopefully, Knoxville hasn't been touched by the McMansion trend?
We made it downtown within 15 minutes and as you come into the city, you can see that, perhaps areas of the city have been struggling and personally I'm not a big fan of the Sunsphere (looks a little too dated for my tastes), but in general, I get the sense that this has a very artsy/sophisticated vibe to it - you can feel the "current." The downtown has great stores, Yee Haw for example (www.yeehawindustries.com), restaurants, and a push to redevelop areas of the downtown with lofts/condos etc. Plus, there's of course the University of Tennessee - and right there, having a university in your city - you can't go wrong; college students provide such a nice buzz of life in a city. 
We headed to the Market Square District (right in the downtown) to figure out where we were going to eat.
The "problem", we soon discovered, was for the 2nd year in a row, we arrived in Knoxville on Thursday, and Thursday evenings April - June, Knoxville has its Sundown in the city - a free music festival with music, food and crafts. So basically that translates to lots of people and cars. We didn't mind because we love seeing the buzz of people walking around and sitting out al fresco at the restaurants,
We managed to find a parking lot in front of the Mast General Store (www.maststoreonline.com). It looked right up my alley, so the shopper that I am, I persuaded Larry to make a detour.
Well this place said "Jill" all over it! Gourmet food stuffs, clothes, candy etc. If you remember the general stores/ 5 & dimes of yesteryear, this was pretty much the same thing (minus the soda fountain counter) with a more up-to-date approach - quite the place!
We were headed to the Old City District to go to The Crown and Goose (www.thecrownandgoose.com), an authentic English gastropub that we went to the list time we were in Knoxville, which was great, but then we decided to ask someone at Mast General if they could recommend some good restaurants in the area. They actually recommended The Crown and Goose, plus a Cuban restaurant they said was excellent. Well, all we needed to hear was "Cuban" and we were there!
So we went to Little Havana (www.lhknox.com) on Gay Street. Let me tell you, this place was fabulous!!! The restaurant itself with warm and cozy decor: warm colors, cool bar, hardwood floors - you pretty much felt that you were in Cuba.
Larry and I just made it in under the wire for the appetizer and beer special (Larry's eyes lit up!), so we ordered cervechi - very good and a decent portion size.
But it was our main meals that took the cake: I had Pollo Al Ajillo (grilled chicken with garlic sauteed in olive oil and white wine) with sides of black beans, saffron rice and maduros (sweet plantains). Larry had Lechon Asado (roasted pork marinated and roasted with white mojo sauce).
At first we thought maybe we were just tired from the long drive when we deliriously declared (yes, out loud, and maybe even slurping) "this has got to be one of the best meals we've ever had!" But honestly, I think it was one of the best meals we've ever had and that's saying a lot since we love to travel and go to a lot of restaurants and Mom V. is hands down one of the best gourmet cooks I know - so we've experienced a lot of wonderful food - so the compliment is worthy!
Then we realized that Crystal Lake doesn't have a Cuban restaurant and we'd have to trek to Chicago to find a hopefully, a relatively comparable one; not that that's bad, but is it asking to much to have fabulous restaurants within a 10 mile radius? (Actually there are in fact great restaurants around the area - I'll post on them later)
After we scarfed down our food, we pretty much were useless for the night. So we took our full bellies back to the hotel to hibernate.
South Carolina Bound: Hitting the Road - April 9th
At 4am Larry and I headed for Charleston, SC to begin our much needed week of relaxing and hopefully nicer weather than here in Illinois. Does it really need to snow in April??? Because the week before it didn't and then it did...I've hit my limit with snow!
Anyway, Larry and I have this trip ritual of getting up ridiculously early to hit the road before anyone else does and arrive at or 1/2 way point (Knoxville, TN) with enough time to enjoy the area - for us, the drive is part of the vacation, so we want it to be as enjoyable as possible.
Our other trip ritual (read Larry's "requirement") is for me to immediately go to sleep upon entering the car because 1) if I wake up I instantly start chatting a mile-a-minute and 2) I avoid needing to use a rest stop if I'm asleep. By doing this Larry avoids sensory overload and the added benefit of not stopping before breakfast. But I'm convinced that at least with 2) that Larry just doesn't want to admit that he needs to stop for the bathroom and will use "breakfast" as an excuse. I'm thinking this is some vast male "conspiracy" that all men are apart of - never wanting to stop for the bathroom and never asking for directions. Sweeping generalization? Perhaps, but I'm convinced I'm right.
The problem with leaving from upper IL is that there are very few places to stop on our route for breakfast along 41 in Indiana other than a truck stop - if anyone knows of any good spots...let me know.
We ended up stopping in Attica, IN - at a greasy spoon - not too bad, and I was impressed that they had sugar-free syrup, which is a gauge of mine lately - seems it's the "normal" spots that have it and not the more fancy places, which I kind of thought the opposite would be true.
The first leg of the 2 day drive was relatively uneventful: taking turns driving and me watching a DVD or two - keeps me from using the rest stops!
I will say we love to drive because it gives us the opportunity to stop at any cute town/site/shop we come across. On most of our trips we typically find great little towns, but I will fully admit that occasionally we get suckered in by a sign saying "historic downtown..." and end up being disappointed. Luckily, we didn't get duped on this leg of the drive...
On the Move...And a Bit of a Vent
April and May have been utterly crazy schedule-wise: our vacation in April, and then in May my business trip to Atlanta for my association’s biennial trade show and our weekend away for our 10th anniversary – I believe I’m actually running on vapors!
I’m trying to keep up the posts on a regular basis, although admittedly, I’ve fallen behind. I really enjoy the blog as this has become a creative outlet, as well as being very therapeutic for me.
Therapeutic, because, honestly, I come home from work most days and all I want to do is lie on the couch. And then I’m hit with the reality that...ugh...we need to figure out what we’re eating for dinner...then make sure I get all the crap I wanted to get completed that night: obliterating the ever encroaching dustbunnies, telephone calls, emails, Law and Order and HGTV, :), and then actually ticking off all my “to do” post-its that I write all the time, lest I forget (and never do) so I can actually get rid of them because they are everywhere! And then on top of that, I keep placing a book I want to read on my nightstand so on the off chance I might actually read an actual book rather than a magazine! And then the weekend comes and goes and...I’m right back on Monday backpeddling.
My point here is that I’ve been wracking my brain lately wondering how I see some women who appear to have everything together – work/home life, body, mind, clothes etc. – and I feel like I’m treading water just to stay afloat. Do you know what I mean? Don’t you know someone who always seems perfect in everything she does and perhaps you want to throttle and you feel like you are just trying to keep up or are wearing those comfy sweats entirely too often???
So this blog is my way of trying to organize my thoughts and talk about the things that I love to talk about: my husband Larry, renovating/decorating our house, our trips, particularly those with Scott and Gwen, what we do around town and cooking – because when I do that...suddenly all the immaterial things I stress about, suddenly goes away.
So that’s my little vent for the day...needed to get that off my chest...and yup, I feel better. And maybe, I’ll work on easing sweats out of my wardrobe...
Scott's Surprise Bday Celebration
I know, I know...it's been awhile since I've posted - not for a lack of trying - it's just been incredibly busy lately - I swear it's not that I wanted to promote the pork picatta recipe for all enternity (although it is very good!).
The weekend of March 28th was something that Larry and I have been looking forward to for quite some time - Gwen was planning a surprise 50th birthday party for Scott. The plan was to have them fly out from NJ under the guise of a "pre-Easter" visit with Scott's family since the four of us would be South Carolina-bound during Easter.
Gwen had been planning the festivities for awhile and Larry and I were afraid that we'd blow it when the Scgwotts came in the night before for our regular Friday dinner-Rumicube-sleepover. Somehow we did not bungle the surprise...but did manage to sing a few tunes and laugh as usual.
On Saturday we went to Benedict's for our usual breakfast...still paranoid that we'd say something to clue Scott in. I actually almost gave Gwen a heart attack when I was talking about our upcoming family BBQ, but only said "party" and she rightfully thought I was talking about Scott's party - yikes - thankfully I clued in and said "OUR BBQ...in JULY!"
After breakfast we somehow started a whole conversation about Ipods and decided it was time for the Mays to live up to our techiness. So with the Scgwotts in tow...Larry and I bought one, right there, on the spot, which is pretty rare for us, since we research things to death! (We actually ended up buying 3 in total...long story).
Then with Scott and Gwen on their way, we headed home to get ready for the big festivities...somehow still managing to NOT spoil the surprise. I even asked Scott what he and Gwen were doing later that night - pretty smooth huh? Probably not, but it was my lame attempt at NOT wrecking the surprise.
On to the party!
